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Trenton officials share vision for Roebling complex during tour

  • Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling...

    John Berry - The Trentonian

    Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling Block II buildings Wednesday as the city prepares to clean them up to attract potential developers to the property.

  • Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora and some of the endless trash...

    John Berry - The Trentonian

    Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora and some of the endless trash throughout the buildings as he did a walkthrough of the Roebling Block II buildings Wednesday as the city prepares to clean them up to attract potential developers to the property.

  • Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling...

    John Berry - The Trentonian

    Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling Block II buildings Wednesday as the city prepares to clean them up to attract potential developers to the property.

  • Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling...

    John Berry - The Trentonian

    Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling Block II buildings Wednesday as the city prepares to clean them up to attract potential developers to the property.

  • Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling...

    John Berry - The Trentonian

    Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling Block II buildings Wednesday as the city prepares to clean them up to attract potential developers to the property.

  • Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling...

    John Berry - The Trentonian

    Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora did another walkthrough of the Roebling Block II buildings Wednesday as the city prepares to clean them up to attract potential developers to the property.

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Isaac Avilucea
PUBLISHED: | UPDATED:

TRENTON – Dirty diapers. Empty milk and egg cartons. Blunt wrappers. Cigarette lighters. A broken TV set. Jungle-like overgrowth. There was even a makeshift fire pit, seemingly responsibly arranged out of bricks to contain the flames.

The Roebling buildings, once a cherished part of the capital city’s storied industrial history, have been reduced to a minefield of trash and debris. Mayor Reed Gusciora led The Trentonian on a tour of the complex Wednesday, ahead of this weekend’s community cleanup.

The city hopes volunteers come out to help city officials make the abandoned Roebling Block II lot sparkle – as much as it can at this point – for a potential suitor after the legislative body screeched the brakes on the Princetel deal earlier this year over insinuations about pay-to-play with the current administration.

The mayor said he never received a dollar in political donations from Princetel representatives while he was campaigning to become Trenton’s next mayor. And he could recall receiving only a single $100 donation from the fiber optics CEO Barry Zhang in his two decades as a state assemblyman.

“I would have hoped I would have held out for more. Barry actually had to tell me. And I was like I don’t remember that,” Gusciora said. “That’s what was so disappointing. I really did it for all the right reasons. Barry Zhang has an excellent reputation. It sends a message to other redevelopers, ‘Do you want to come in and be bothered?'”

Gusciora said he has a “standing offer” to the council members who suggested he did something untoward in recruiting Princetel to take on the proposed $4 million overhaul of Roebling Block II to personally drive them down to Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri’s office to give a statement.

“Nobody’s taken me up on the offer,” he said.

That hasn’t stopped the innuendo, with council president Kathy McBride telling The Trentonian during the back-and-forth with the administration that her “black a**” would have been handcuffed and jailed if she pushed the Princetel deal forward. The council has since proposed a pay-to-play ordinance, tailored in part to address political donations made by prospective redevelopers.

East Ward councilman Joe Harrison and other city officials accompanied the mayor on the tour of the once-esteemed industrial buildings, which were have become hollowed-up dumping grounds for vagabonds, druggies and criminals to congregate.

“Is it coming to you yet, the vision?” the councilman said. “It’s about time we do something.”

The vision is hard to see given the current state of the buildings.

The so-called Jones Gang, graffiti artists, homophobes and POTUS haters had also apparently taken up residence inside the buildings. A homophobic slur describing a sex act was scrawled on one of the walls.

The openly gay mayor, a proud proponent of LGBTQ rights, tried to make light of the hate speech.

In another part of the building, the writing was on the wall for Republican president – who is up for re-election in 2020: “F**k Trump” was plastered in silver spray paint.

Hoping there is life after the imploded Princetel deal, city officials hope these buildings will become the canvas for another redeveloper in the future thus the window-dressing efforts.

The mayor said other suitors have already expressed interest but he refused to name any of them. He said one had proposed demolishing the buildings and erecting new warehouses in their place.

The city wants a redeveloper that will restore the historic buildings, which once housed the John A. Roebling’s Sons Company that provided the steel wires for the Brooklyn and Golden Gate bridges.

That vision for the future, city leaders said, starts Saturday.

“It’s a long term project,” Gusciora said. “You’re talking about 10 years. I’ll be here. I have to make sure it happens.”